Pastoral Musings

Doug over at AVERYFINELINE seems to insinuate that gospel singers should be quiet about politics.

I do not doubt that there are some things that would divide the Christian community. The present war is one of those issues. It is indeed open to debate and could cause much division. I have seen instances in which I was turned off by an artists partisan political statement. On the other hand, southern gospel music has its roots in fundamentalist/evangelical circles. That being so, why should people with convictions that are common to fundamentalists/evangelicals keep quiet about those convictions? After all, considering that many (if not all) southern gospel artists consider themselves to be in the ministry it is logical that they should express some of their beliefs. The content of the gospel is not simply the good news, but it also has to refer to the bad news, or the sin from which sinners are saved. This same sin will destroy nations (Ps 9;17;Prov 14:34). It is hard to understand how one could expect those in the ministry to muzzle themselves, or submit to someone else’s muzzling them.

Perhaps we could expect them to be quiet if this were solely an issue of entertainment. If we accept that the artist is seeking to minister, then we should give them a little wiggle room concerning the issue.

The pastor surely understands that there is often a fine, fuzzy line between politics and morals. Sometimes we must ignore it and call sin by its rightful (or should I say “wrongful?”) name.

Simply musing……